Issue 04-11-2016

CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. at the beginning of this month announced a strategic partnership with Lucky’s Market of Longmont LLC, a specialty grocer focused on natural, organic and locally grown food. Financial terms were not disclosed but, in a statement announcing the deal, Kroger characterized its investment in Lucky’s as “meaningful” and said the cash

BATAVIA, Ill. — Aldi opened its first eight supermarkets in Southern California on March 24, the first of 45 locations set to open in the region this year. After growing slowly in the decades after its arrival in the United States in 1976, the German retailer’s U.S. division is accelerating the pace of its store

BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons Cos. has launched Signature, its new store brand and largest private label, across all 2,286 of its stores. Signature is a multicategory brand developed to address consumers’ growing appetite for quality private label products. The Signature line includes more than 4,000 items — from coffee to juice, soup to cereal, fresh

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Tom Coughlin, a former Walmart vice chairman and protégé of company founder Sam Walton, died this month at age 66. Coughlin had been in the intensive care unit of a hospital for several days, Thomson Reuters reported. The cause of death could not be confirmed ­immediately. “Our hearts go out to the

SEATTLE — Amazon.com Inc. filed a lawsuit against Arthur Valdez, the company’s former senior supply chain and logistics operator, seeking to prevent him from starting a new job with Target Corp. Target was not named as a defendant in the suit, filed March 22 in King County Superior Court in Washington state. The suit, filed

CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. last month announced it had promoted two executives to the role of division president. Michael Marx, who had served as vice president of people operations for Kroger, became president of the Wisconsin division of Roundy’s. Don Rosanova, who had been serving as executive vice president of operations at Roundy’s, is now

MONTREAL — Dollarama Inc. announced last month that the board of directors has appointed Neil Rossy as president and chief executive officer, effective May 1. Company founder Larry Rossy will continue to play an active role in key areas of Dollarama’s business as executive chairman. “Succession planning has been an important focus for the board

BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons Cos. announced last month its intention to acquire food and drug retailer Haggen Inc., which has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since last fall. In its binding bid letter and form of asset purchase agreement to acquire Haggen, Albertsons expressed its interest in purchasing the retailer’s 29 core stores in

SEATTLE — Since announcing their introduction a year ago, Amazon.com Inc. has tripled the lineup of brands available via Amazon Dash Button to its Prime members, the company recently ­announced. Members can now choose from over 100 Dash Buttons representing top-name brands across dozens of retail categories and thousands of products. With Dash Buttons, Prime

MINNEAPOLIS — More than 500 start-ups from 32 states and 45 countries applied to be admitted to the Target + Techstars Retail accelerator program. According to an article in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, the accelerator will name 10 winning companies that will move into 8,000 square feet of space at Target Corp.’s Minneapolis headquarters

The first quarter of the new calendar year is history — and the mass retailing community still bubbles with more questions than answers. Few major mass retailers have dramatically altered course in response to changes in the marketplace. Many grocery retailers have continued to perform well during trying times. Target, notably, has recovered its stride

A recent study serves as a reminder of the substantial opportunity that supermarket operators have in the field of health and wellness. In a report entitled “The Health of Health & Beauty Care in the Grocery Channel,” Acosta points out that of the $84 billion a year spent on H&BAs in this country, supermarkets garner